Endothelium-specific LKB1 Knockout Mice

Mice expressing the Cre recombinase under control of the VE-Cadherin promoter/enhancer (VE-CAD-Cre) were purchased from Jackson Laboratory.^{23 (link)} LKB1-floxed (LKB1^flox/flox) mice were purchased from the National Cancer Institute, which was made by DePinho lab.^{24 (link)} To generate endothelium-specific LKB1^endo−/− mice, LKB1^flox/flox mice were crossbred with VE-CAD-Cre mice. PCR-based genotyping was performed, as described previously.^{25 (link)} The animals were housed in a controlled environment (20 ± 2°C, 12-h/12-h light/dark cycle), where they were maintained on a standard chow diet with free access to water. Male mice at 3 months of age were subjected to endothelial function analyses and blood pressure measurements. For adenoviral injections, wild-type (WT) or LKB1^endo−/− mice received tail vein injections of 100 μL adenoviral vectors that expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) or constitutively active (CA)-AMPK (4 × 10¹⁰ viral particles). The animal protocol was reviewed and approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.